A Study of the Description of Samples in Research Literature Relating to Children and Adolescents.

Hertz, Thomas W.; Hurt, Maure, Jr.

This study examines sample descriptions in 24 research journals. The survey covered all articles published in the 1974 volumes of these journals meeting the criteria of having a research sample and dealing with children and youth between the pre-natal period and 24 years of age. A total of 1,353 articles qualified. Each article was classified by general age category (childhood or adolescence) and by selected areas of research falling within the focus of the study. The survey indicates that the number of children in the sample is specified in almost all the studies, their sex is specified more often than not, and their age and grade level are indicated in about one third of the articles. Race and social class are reported in about one fifth of the articles, whereas the time of data gathering is documented in only about a tenth of the studies. Other characteristics, such as ethnicity, language dialect, neighborhood, school, and parental income, occupation and education are rarely described. The frequencies with which some of the sample characteristics are reported differ across research on children and research on adolescents, and across the particular areas into which the journal articles were classified. (Author)